Cech, 32, is set to leave Chelsea in the summer after being dumped to the bench by Jose Mourinho in favour of young Belgian Thibaut Courtois.

Arsenal and Liverpool are keen on the Czech Republic international, widely seen as one of the best stoppers in the game, but PSG and Inter Milan are also keen.

Van der Sar can empathise with Cech's plight having been replaced at Juventus in 2001 when the Italian side spent big on Gianluigi Buffon.

The Dutch legend opted against sitting on the bench and joined Fulham for £7.1m before moving to United in 2005 for a hugely-successful stint at Old Trafford.

MAKE IT NICE: Edwin van der Sar has told Petr Cech to find a nice new club [GETTY]

And he believes Cech should move on from Chelsea to prove his quality again.

"It's important that young goalkeepers have an example and somebody they can look up to," Van der Sar said. "Those guys really do their job although I have a lot of respect for Petr Cech from my time when he played with Chelsea.

"I think it's important for him to find a nice new club where he can show the quality that Petr Cech has."